HOUSTON—The Texans are going to be a problem in the divisional round. A big problem. They put up 31 offensive points on the game’s best defense Saturday, the coordinator consistently found ways to get his receivers waaaay clear of Cleveland’s noted DBs, C.J. Stroud is playing quarterback like Yo-Yo Ma plays the cello, the line held the almighty Myles Garrett to zero sacks and two pressures, and did I tell you the Texans have C.J. Stroud on their team?
If the Bills win this afternoon in the tundra of western New York, it’s Texans at Ravens this weekend. A Pittsburgh win would send Houston to Kansas City. Stroud at Lamar Jackson or Stroud at Patrick Mahomes—winner advancing to the AFC title game—would be a show I’d pay to see. That’d be no walkover for either of the AFC’s top seeds, not the way Stroud is playing. Check him out over his last three games, since returning from a concussion:
Accuracy: 75.9 percent (the record for a full season is 74.4).
TD-to-Interception: 6-0.
Passer rating: 130.3 (which is insane).
Yards per attempt: 9.5 (a virtual first down every time he throws).
Remember the storylines when he was drafted? The S2 test storylines, when Stroud scored low on the exam purported to measure how players process information under real-time pressure? That Stroud was a poor “processor?” On Saturday, in the biggest game of his pro career, eight of his passes came against Cleveland pressure. He completed seven, for 118 yards, per Next Gen Stats … and he did it while getting rid of the ball in 2.64 seconds, his second-fastest average time to throw in a game this year.
Let me extrapolate. Stroud’s a superb processor; he proved that against a great defensive coordinator, Cleveland’s Jim Schwartz, knowing exactly when to cut his losses and check down (not often) and when to turn it loose downfield. He’s playing faster and more efficient against pressure, and he’s in harmony with his play-caller, offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik. Truly, anyone who watched Stroud put up 348 yards, four TDs and 41 points against Georgia’s stifling defense in his last pre-NFL game and thought he’d have trouble making quick decisions as a pro is certifiable. But that narrative hasn’t worn on him.
I met Stroud in a stadium tunnel before he went to see his family post-game. This was a happy man, even when I brought up the pre-draft questioning of his smarts.
“I’m too blessed to stress,” he said with a smile, a big silver “7” chain around his neck. “I mean, it’s just extra motivation. I don’t play this game to prove people wrong. I play this game for the audience of one, God. And then to prove the people who love me and believe in me right. You know? I feel like I’ve done that this year. I just want to keep that going. I don’t really focus on the negativity.”
In Houston’s stunning 45-14 rout, Stroud was so dominant against the league’s best defense that the Texans were able to call off the dogs early in the fourth quarter; he got yanked with 10 minutes left. By halftime Houston led 24-14, and Stroud had already thrown for more yards (236) and touchdowns (three) than Cleveland had allowed in any half all season. His play under pressure was a season-best, per the seven-of-eight Next Gen metrics. And playing so fast. You have to remind yourself the guy’s six years younger than Patrick Mahomes and he’s already in his league in how sees the field and makes decisions.
“I just never expect not to play well,” Stroud said.
He said that so matter-of-factly. The words on paper seem slightly cocky. But the words were spoken with a humble conviction that his mates have seen since draft day.
Then he backs it up on the field, as he did on the Texans’ first scoring drive Saturday. On third-and-six at the Cleveland 41-yard line, four receivers in the formation, he took a shotgun snap and quick-looked right for tight end Dalton Schultz; covered. He turned to wideout John Metchie III running down the middle; covered. With linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah late-blitzing and coming in unblocked from his left, Stroud spied Nico Collins at the last second getting a step on corner Greg Newsome on a go route down the left seam. Stroud knew he was going to take a shot. And he did. A millisecond after releasing a high arcing ball, a perfect spiral, 43 yards in the air toward Collins, Stroud got hit in the torso and twisted around by Owusu-Koramoah. Gain of 38. Newsome’s shoulders slumped. On Saturday, that was the first of many big-time throws by Stroud.
Veteran backup Case Keenum, one of Stroud’s first-year mentors, told me post-game: “I think the combination of vision, his ability to move within the pocket and remain an elite passer, how he still can get really good velocity on some of these throws, and do it under pressure, you just don’t see that in a rookie. But you see it with C.J. every game. We’ve seen it since day one. I can tell you—we didn’t put in any rookie gameplans this year. There weren’t any games we’re like, ‘Hey let’s give this young guy some confidence.’ From week one, it’s been serious NFL football that he’s playing. And there’s something about him when the lights come on in big spots. He’s elite.”
Slowik came from San Francisco, where he was Kyle Shanahan’s passing game coordinator last season. As Shanahan does, he prides himself in giving his quarterback solutions on every pass call. When the year started, Slowik would show his players clips from pass plays of the 49ers. “But now,” Keenum said, “it’s more and more Texans plays. He showed a bunch from our last drive at Indianapolis last week. That’s a confidence-builder right there.”
When it was over, past met present. This was sort of The Deshaun Watson’s Not Here Bowl, with his old team being led by Stroud and his new team being led by the ancient Joe Flacco with Watson out for the season with a shoulder injury. Watson, in fact, was here, and after the game, in a Browns knit cap, sought out Stroud for a hug and a four-second greeting. What must Watson have been thinking, listening to this crowd shower his successor with love, knowing that could have been him with this rebuilt team if he hadn’t gotten himself exiled to Cleveland? Whatever Watson thought, this city’s moved on. It’s Stroudtown now.
This turnaround in Houston—from 7-26-1 over the previous two years to 11-7 in the rookie years of Stroud and coach DeMeco Ryans—is a classic example of a quarterback meaning so much to a football franchise. From the moment he stepped into the huddle in training camp, exuding confidence, Stroud, just 22, won over his teammates. “I wish you guys could be in the huddle and just be around him,” tight end Brevin Jordan told reporters after the game. Named a captain before he ever played a regular-season game, Stroud’s attitude won over players, almost all of whom are older than he is. “I don’t think leadership has an age,” he told me earlier this season. “It’s something that’s in you. I didn’t come in demanding respect. I came in wanting to earn it.”
There’s a guy who gets it. At 22.
Read more in Peter King’s full Football Morning in America column.